It is true enough that NESCAC schools have slots, but they also have tips. While some could argue that either a tip or a slot is a guarantee, that is not necessarily so. I am not sure we know whether the poster has a tip or a slot.
This site routinely reports stories of people who are disappointed because they thought they would be admitted through coach support and were not. We probably all know of folks who thought they were being recruited and and ended up waitlisted or deferred. I know of one who had a preread, an OV and the promise of coach support and were deferred. The question is why does that happen. While there are probably several possible reasons, one is an athlete misunderstanding the cues. Take Oldbatesiedoc’s example, I do not think it is unreasonable for an athlete to presume that a pre-read has taken place if the athlete sends test scores and a transcript to a coach and the coach continues to encourage the student, yet it required the direct question “what was the result of the pre-read” to conclude that the athlete was not going to be admitted. I do think email can help to confirm understanding, if it is done in a natural way. I do not, however, think it is likely that a coach would promise more that admissions support in writing, since so much can happen along the way.
@desie1 : Yes, because likelies come from admissions, they are sent only after the admissions committee has met and read the complete application. This can happen well before the regular ED dates, beginning on October.
@ classicalmama Thanks! How nerve wracking that they get their likelies after they already committed to the school by applying ED. I know they were probably given verbal commitments, but they must hold their breathe until the likely letter arrives. I don’t have any varsity athletes in my house, but I was just curious.
@desie1, it is kind of nerve wracking waiting on a likely letter, I am not going to lie. But on the other hand, recruits are generally better off than kids in the general applicant pool. Everyone is nervous once applications are in and before the results come out. At least the recruits know what the decision will be before the ED or RD decision date. And yes, absent some very strange circumstances, recruits know before they submit their application that they have passed a pre read from admissions, are being supported by the coach, and at least generally when the applications for that sport will be reviewed by admissions (unless of course the person in admissions responsible for a particular review up and decides to take vacation in the middle of October). So it is a little bit more transparent of a process all the way around.